Review by Chris

September 12, 2002

The Argama heads for Earth, and Elle and Iino watch as another mobile suit is brought aboard: a new Hyaku Shiki. Bright meets with Madchar and is told that the AEUG leadership has ordered him to destroy Haman's Sadalahn with the hyper mega particle gun. Bright objects to the order, and Madchar replies that anything should be possible with the Gundam Team. Beecha and Mondo give Judau bombs and tell him he should use them to rescue Leina from the Neo Zeon. They say the bombs will help, and he foolishly believes them. Iino installs the bombs and tells Astonaige he doesn't know what's inside the metal boxes. On the Sadalahn, Rakan Dahkaran launches in a new Dreissen mobile suit and heads for his own ship. Haman puts on a regal costume and has her hologram projected out into space. She tells her soldiers to fight honorably and to seize the Earth for Neo Zeon. Shinta and Qum try to warn Judau about the bombs, so they tell Roux. Astonaige sees that Judau has lots of grenades strapped to his chest and asks him if he's going out to die. Judau shows Astonaige that Double Zeta has lots of bombs on it too. Astonaige and Iino try to unstrap the bombs, but Iino gets tangled in the line and is forced to go into space with Judau. Judau stops when he spots Iino, and Iino yells at him and says he almost got killed. Judau kicks Iino away and gets back into Double Zeta when a Gaza-C and -D fly by. He ignores them and presses on towards Haman's fleet. On the Mindra, Rakan deploys fake meteorites to sneak up on the Argama. Bright orders Elle and Roux to launch in the Mk II and Zeta Gundam to repel the enemy attack.

Judau fires at attacking Zssas and Ga-Zowmns and heads for a nearby ship. He grapples onto the bridge and asks the captain where Leina is, and the captain replies he doesn't know what type of mobile suit that is. A Galluss-J grabs Double Zeta, and Judau knocks it away. He deploys a line of bombs and fires his double beam rifle, which destroys the Galluss-J. The flaming Galluss-J crashes into the ship and destroys it. Haman is told that Judau is looking Leina, and she remembers that Leina is the girl Glemy brought back. She thinks to herself that Judau is different from the Newtypes of the past. Judau flies by the Sadalahn, and Haman has her hologram projected into space. She tells Judau to land inside the ship if he wants to see Leina, but he doesn't really trust her. With no other options, he lands in the Sadalahn's mobile suit hangar and gets out. Haman takes him to a private room and tells him she doesn't know where Leina is. She tells him that she can sense the mutual attraction between them. She also says that since they are both Newtypes they have no reason to be enemies. Haman is about to kiss Judau when several soldiers show up and chase him away. Rakan's Mindra attacks the Argama from close range, and Bright fires the hyper mega particle gun, which only grazes the Mindra. Judau uses his grenades to fight off soldiers and manages to get back to Iino and Double Zeta. He sees that the bombs have been removed, so he uses his double beam rifle to blast the door and fly out. As Judau heads back to the Argama, he is attacked by Rakan's Dreissen. Rakan uses his beam tomahawk to destroy Judau's double beam rifle and slice into Double Zeta. He is forced to stop when Elle and Roux arrive. Judau uses his hyper beam saber to slice off the Dreissen's head and legs. Rakan escapes with the cockpit pod as the Dreissen explodes. Judau thinks to himself that Bright is probably mad at him for launching again without permission.

With the series having taken a more serious turn in the Cecilia two-parter, the tradition is carried out here. As the Neo Zeon fleet heads for Earth, Judau makes another attempt to save Leina. What I found odd was Beecha and Mondo's motivation for wanting to kill Judau so that he stops being the hero. However, their bombs end up saving Judau. We're introduced to a new character, the ruthless Rakan Dahkaran. He's the kind of Zeta Gundam type villain I like. He also has a new mobile suit, the Dreissen, which looks like a descendant of the old Dom from the original series. Judau also has another encounter with Haman, and she seems to like him. What I found odd is that the statement she made to convince him to join her was the same thing Kamille told her in Zeta Gundam to join with AEUG against the Titans.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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